The Association – Greatest Hits (1968)

“Great songs with brilliant musicianship. I don’t think the whole band played on the records – it was probably the Wrecking Crew, much in the way that those guys played on a lot of the Beach Boys’ material.

“I heard these songs on AM radio when I was a kid. At the time, it didn’t do anything for me other than ‘Oh, that’s nice. It’s on the radio’ – but as I became more of a music fan, I heard this stuff in a different way.

“I became a huge fan of Yes, largely because of Chris Squire, who’s an unbelievable bass player. Later on, I found out from Chris himself that he and some of the other guys in Yes were big fans of The Association. They loved the vocal harmonies, and they really were into the basslines, like the one from the song Windy. That thing is so loud – it drives the tune.

“Even today, when I listen to these recordings, I’m struck by how loud and trebly the bass is in the mix – almost like Chris Squire’s Rickenbacker on Yes records. There’s a lot of very early progressive-rock arrangements throughout The Association’s lush California vibe. We’re not talking about the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-and-out stuff. These are very sophisticated recordings. The songs really stand up, and the vocals are beautiful.”